Entwined Vigil
by Black Sword
Summary: Freeing Orakio's sword from its watery prison has liberated a long forgotten evil. Worse, it has had unforeseen consequences on the House of Sa Riik.
1. Chapter 1

An onyx blur divided the light. The atmosphere appeared to shimmer as the ebon blade cut through the air; the afterimage of shadow seemed to tear at the very fabric of the world.

As black as the void between stars, Orakio's sword was the stuff of Orakian legend and Layan nightmares. A millennium under Landen's sea had done nothing to dull its edge, let alone rust the metal. Adan stared at the ancient weapon. The long blade was slightly curved and sharp on one side. The hilt was long enough for two-handed use and the guard connected to the pommel through a curved loop of protective metal. The black sword projected a killing edge unmatched by anything else in myth or history. It truly was the only weapon suitable for his godlike ancestor.

Adan wished he had never pulled the damned thing out of its watery grave.

The young Orakian prince closed his eyes and reached out with his mind. Nothing. A vicious slash cut through the last of the intact wooden pells, but Adan paid no mind as the thick, heavy device toppled to the floor. He snarled as he shoved the wretched sword into its hasty scabbard and stormed out of the training room.

He should have listened. Gwyn had warned him. She had _told _him it was dangerous. He could count on the fingers of one hand how often her feelings had been wrong. Regardless of her warning, he had gone ahead and freed Orakio's sword from the underwater temple it had slept in since the Devastation War centuries ago. He had been a fool not to question why Rulakir had known where the blade rested.

The moment his ancestor's weapon was released from its pedestal, the darkness came alive with evil. Wren's light faded as the shadow grew in malevolence. Black fog had impossibly filled the sunken building, something his mind even now could not understand. Even though the mask he had worn was supposed to supply enough air for him to survive underwater, he had been unable to breathe. An invisible fist had grasped his lungs and suffocated him. Every gasp for air came from a distance as terror overwhelmed him. What lingering warmth from Landen's sun had accompanied them into the depths had vanished as tiny spheres of ice appeared and melted in the water.

The black fog roiled as a hideous face manifested in the darkness. A hollow skull more grotesque than any Layan monster stared at him. Long, serrated fangs replaced upper and lower canines as twin red fires burned in the hollows where eyes would have been. Adan knew that face, the detritus of every nightmare he had ever had as a child. His twin had insisted it had been the face of true evil, but he had dismissed those claims. How foolish of him!

Instinct screamed at Adan to flee, to rip off the air mask and drown, to do _anything _to escape. His hand had tightened its grip on his ancestor's sword. Stubborn pride compelled him to stand his ground. Orakio and Aunt Laya had faced this demon alone. He would do no less than they, no matter the consequences.

Sound should not have carried underwater, but that was not an obstacle to the malevolent entity before him. **"****At last I am free of my vile bonds! Tremble, fools, for I roam the worlds again! Other matters await me, but we will meet again**!**"**

The impossible black fog receded. The presence of evil had withdrawn. Wren's light once again cut through the underwater gloom. The vile demon gone, Adan finally heard Gwyn's screams.

A new fear churned in his stomach as he turned his body around in the water and looked at his twin. He stared in confusion as Gwyn clawed at her face, her howls filling his ears via the communication device in the breathing apparatus. In slowly dawning horror, he realized that in her terrified frenzy, his twin was trying to rip her breath mask _off_, the only thing that kept her alive under Landen's sea. Adan abandoned any notion of grace when he realized his sister was trying to kill herself, and had desperately flailed through the murky waters to reach her in time.

His desperate movements to reach Gwyn paled in comparison to her own efforts to rid herself of her breath mask. When he tried to use his free hand to restrain her, his sister kicked him in the stomach. The blow was substantially softened by the water and gave him the chance to crush Gwyn against his chest. Her arms trapped, his twin thrashed wildly in the water, her screams more intense by the second. He gritted his teeth and held on. It seemed like hours passed before she went limp. Adan _assumed _Gwyn had fainted and had given Wren orders to take them back to the surface.

He would give his sword arm for his twin to wake up and call him an idiot right about now.

It had taken an agonizingly long eternity to return to the surface. Wren had refused every order to rise faster, insistent that a fast ascent would do Gwyn more harm than good. Adan had ground his teeth the entire trip back up. The ride back to the facility where Kara and Mieu were waiting for them took hours that dragged on like centuries. By the time they reached the port, Gwyn had still not awakened.

Mieu had examined his sister. She had spoken gently to Gwyn, touched her, pinched her. Mieu's diagnosis had not been comforting. "She's responsive to stimuli, but failed the index test. She's comatose."

They had rushed back to Landen to discover worse news: Laya, Queen of Landen, their mother, was also in a coma. His father, King Nial, was mad with grief. His wife and daughter unconscious, and the whole thing seemingly connected to the release of Orakio's sword, Father had blamed him. In a public shouting match in the middle of the court, father and son had screamed accusation and insult at each other, each blaming the other. It had almost come to naked blades but for a fortuitous interruption.

"ENOUGH!"

A beloved voice, raised to a stentorian bellow, froze them in their tracks. Old King Rhys, patriarch of the family, respected father and cherished grandfather strode between them. The Treaty of Dahlia had made Father King of Landen, but Grandfather ruled in Satera, hard at work rebuilding the damaged kingdom. Taller than Adan but far shorter than his giant son Nial, the lean old man was well past half a century in age, and just as deadly as he had been in his youth, when he had been called the strongest Orakian warrior.

Rhys' sharp blue eyes had raked them over a slow fire. "I heard my daughter-in-law was in a coma and rush over to be of use, and here I find my boys at each other's throats! What is the matter with you two? Have you lost what little wits you were born with? If I have to, I'll toss you both in the dungeons to cool off!"

Adan had stared at the ground, ashamed. His grandfather had never taken him to task before. Father had attempted to protest, but the old king would have none of it. He had firmly taken them both to the family wing of the keep. Father had attempted to rush to Mother's room, but Queen Lena had stood in his path.

"I know you, Nial," his tiny little grandmother had said, her hands on her hip as she faced down the massive son who easily made two of her. Her voice was firm. "I blame your father for it, but it's still a Sa Riik failing. You are both forbidden from entering Laya's quarters and Gwyn's quarters. Your rages won't do any good in sick rooms."

That had been that. Grandmother and Wren were to stay with Laya while Mieu and Kara were to keep watch over Gwyn. Old King Rhys had taken his son and grandson to Adan's chambers, where the old man had questioned Adan at length. When King Nial heard that Rulakir had told them where Orakio's sword rested, he had been ready to mobilize the entire army to attack Lashute. Adan had been all for it. Grandfather had firmly squashed that.

"Don't be foolish," the old king had growled. "Your kingdom needs you to govern. Your people need you to defend them against the wild monsters and machines roaming the lands. And Laya and Gwyn will need you both when they wake up."

Whatever his kingly words, Adan had seen the training room after his grandfather had used it. What little of the training equipment had survived the old king's wrath had been finished off by his father's rage and his own fury in the succeeding two days.

Staying within his chambers had been unbearable. Fury and shame had made sleep impossible; his own thoughts condemned him for his failure. Adan stalked through the halls of the keep. The servants took one look at him and fled. Guards carefully stared over his head as he marched past and breathed sighs of relief in his wake. The entire castle was within the grips of an oppressive silence. Everyone who lived and worked within walked on eggshells, fearful of the uncharacteristic rage of their usually gentle lords and anxious over the uncertain state of their beloved ladies.

Their avoidance suited Adan, as he had no wish to speak to anyone, not even Kara. It was his fault his mother and sister were in this state. Had he listened to Gwyn, none of this would have happened. He reached out again, trying to feel his twin's presence through the bond they had shared since birth. Nothing.

The dull impact of his fist against the stone wall did nothing to dispel the pain within. His twin was there in body, but her mind was missing. His fault. He stared at his bleeding knuckles as he remembered how pleased he had been when Kara took to walking in the swordsman's blind spot. What a joke. How could anyone count on his protection when he was the one who had put his own sister in harm's way?

He started to head back to the family wing. They had to wake up. A life without his twin was a nightmare far worse than the demon that Orakio's sword had kept sealed.

And when Gwyn did wake up, Adan would make Rulakir pay for his treachery.


	2. Chapter 2

It was so familiar, that proud young face with its exquisite allure. Her elegant features were those of a classic patrician beauty and her full lips were the kind that drove poets to despair at the inadequacy of their art. Her golden looks were second only to the intensity of her otherworldly eyes, the mysterious nightscape of indigo that concealed many secrets even when they pretended to be unguarded. Or they would be, if only those eyes were open.

Kara gazed at her beloved friend's sleeping face. If only she could convince herself that Gwyn was really just asleep, taking a peaceful rest before they resumed their journey. But the paleness of her flesh, the wan color of her lips, the frightful tossing and turning as rivers of sweat poured out of her let Kara know that wherever her friend had gone, it was not peaceful.

The moon princess set aside her notebook and pen to pick up a dry rag. She gently wiped sweat from Gwyn's face and frowned as the blonde girl whimpered at her touch. Two days ago, when Gwyn had first fallen into her coma, Landen's princess had been as still as death. Her breathing, even as she thrashed, was frightfully shallow, faint little gasps that came at such long intervals that Kara sometimes doubted her friend was still alive. The whimpers were something new, from the last half-day or so. If it was an improvement, it wasn't a good one.

She had seen her friend like this once before. It had been that first night of their journey, after they had launched from the moon princess' home of Dahlia and arrived at Aerone. Gwyn had retired first, visibly exhausted. Kara had been invited on a walk by her prince, and upon her return to the room she shared with Gwyn, discovered her coeval in the midst of an awful nightmare. That time, it had been enough to shake her awake; this time wasn't going to be so easy.

Her eyes glanced out the window. Dahlia shone in the night sky, a comfort for her, even as it meant they were now entering the third night of Gwyn's coma. Her gaze returned to her friend. Queen Lena had ordered her granddaughter's bed moved under the window, so that Gwyn could enjoy the sunlight in the day. It was such a small thing, but one of the few things they _could _do.

Gwyn's mother, the Laya herself, was in similar straits, but it seemed that she was not as badly off as her daughter. It was strange that they had both fallen at the same time...and worrisome that the two most affected were Espers. When she had had a free moment, she had written to Dahlia to make certain her father and aunt were alright. The great Lune might be able to defeat an army, but an attack on the mind was a different kind of war altogether.

"The Chirper's chicks go chirp-y, chirp-y, chirp," Mieu sang softly. "When they're feeling hungry and when they're feeling cold..."

The redheaded android was singing a lullaby, Gwyn's favorite when they had been children. Not exactly what Kara would pick to wake someone up, but it _was _something familiar and well-loved that might soothe her friend's obvious nightmares. Mieu had spent many hours speaking to Landen's princess, discussing all sorts of things, memories of when Adan, Gwyn, and Kara had all been children together, of pranks Mieu had caught Gwyn in and others that the gynoid only suspected were the blonde girl's doing. It was the side of her coeval she knew so well, cheerful, irreverent, mischievous, witty, pert. It hurt to see her so still, lying there as if dead when she very much knew that she still had so much trouble to cause.

It hurt that she didn't know if her best friend even wanted her around.

Gwyn had been incredibly mean to Kara lately. Her remarks, always sassy, felt like they had become more biting and far less friendly. It felt like her friend still did not approve of her feelings for Adan, and was taking it out on Kara. The worst one had been right before Gwyn fell unconscious, when she made a comment about Kara leering at Adan like he was just so much eye candy. It had flustered the moon princess to no end and it had felt like Gwyn was making fun of how she felt about Adan. It upset her enough that she had quietly wished Gwyn would just shut up.

Well, her wish had been granted, and she'd gladly trade everything she owned to take it back. Down to the depths of the sea the royal twins had gone. In their stead, Dark Force had risen. The demon that had pursued the last children of Palma had been safely sealed by Orakio and Laya. A millennium later, their descendants had released it while trying to gather the tools to protect the _Alisa III_ from it. Epics had been written on inferior ironies.

It was a bitter thought and unfortunately had plenty of other unhappy musings for company inside her head. If someone had told her that a situation could get worse than being on a spaceship aimed at a black hole, navigation controls locked, unable to change course, she wouldn't have believed them. Ever since her family had encountered the House of Sa Riik a thousand years ago, things just seemed to keep spiraling out of control. Nothing seemed to go right, be it the escape from Palma, the Devastation War, and in more recent days, the Champions' War and the current dilemma.

Kara felt like a Chirper caught in a maelstrom. A life spent in a carefully managed bubble hadn't prepared her for the whirlwind of chaos. She was afraid. Afraid they would be crushed by the black hole, afraid Gwyn would never wake up again, afraid that her father and aunt were trapped in the same place her best friend was, afraid of Dark Force, and afraid of Adan.

For her, the last of those was the most upsetting. She had spent years loving Adan. Until very recently, she had been convinced she didn't have the slightest chance with him. When he had kissed her in Skyhaven, it had been like a gift straight from the hands of Laya herself. They had gotten closer. There were hidden depths within him that she had only imagined existed beneath his stoic persona and it was fascinating exploring them.

That's what made his fight with his father all the more horrifying. For all his size, the King Nial in her memory had always been an amiable giant, his words kind and encouraging. To see them both, usually so calm and gentle, at each other's throats, screaming imprecations and accusations at the top of their lungs, ready to draw blades and likely spill each other's blood...

It horrified her. She had never thought anything like that existed within either of them. It made her doubt whether she had any future with Adan, especially when she couldn't be certain he'd never turn that murderous ire on her. Queen Lena had said all the Sa Riiks were like that. Could she even survive in a family that violent?

The moon princess picked up her notebook and stared at the words on the page. She'd been trying to compose a poem for him, but she was a historian, not a bard. Expressing her feelings in words didn't come easy, especially when she was worried about what tomorrow could bring, about the uncertainty of Gwyn's life and the future. Gwyn had dreamed that they had fallen into the black hole, so maybe it was all pointless.

Kara ground her teeth together. It frustrated her, all of these doubts, all of the second-guessing. It came from her scholarly nature, seeking for answers, trying to find the truth, never resting, never satisfied. Even so, it upset her that she questioned him. She wanted to believe! But for all the kisses, Adan hadn't said the magical words yet that might dispel her worries.

Maybe he was just toying with her. A man that beautiful could have any woman he wanted. She'd seen how all the women of the court looked at him. What was one more broken heart in a collection? After all, it'd be hard to even notice a new—

A knock interrupted her depressing reverie. She looked up, then glanced at Mieu. The redheaded android was already on her way to deny the caller entry. The door opened and Queen Lena quietly entered the room. Kara scrambled to her feet even as the grandmother of the twins gestured for her to stay put. "No, no, this is hardly the time for courtly courtesies. Mieu, why don't you go spend a little time with Laya? I want to visit with Gwyn a while."

Mieu nodded. "Of course, Lena. Is Laya any better?"

"A bit. The color's back in her cheeks, but she still hasn't woken up."

The gynoid gave Gwyn a worried look. "Gwyn hasn't improved at all…"

"My granddaughter will wake up," Queen Lena said serenely as she sat in Mieu's chair. "Go on, Mieu. I'm certain Laya is sick of having her mother-in-law looking over her shoulder."

"I don't know why. It's not like your cooking is better than hers," Mieu retorted as she left Gwyn's chambers.

Queen Lena issued a very unroyal snort. "I swear! She's a doting mother hen to Nial and the twins, but for Rhys and I, it's her rapier wit!"

"Yes, Highness. I mean, I'm sorry, Highness. I mean—"

Queen Lena smiled at her. Kara blushed and looked down. "Come now, little one. I watched you at play with my grandchildren. No need to be so nervous. Although I suppose I shouldn't call you little, should I?"

Kara felt her mouth curl into a smile. Queen Lena was even shorter than her granddaughter. More importantly, she was as gentle now as she had been back when Kara had been little. The Queen of Satera's shoulder-length brown hair was streaked with gray, while her face still retained some of the prettiness she surely must have had in her youth. She wore comfortable green clothes suitable for travel, a warm-looking shawl draped over her shoulders. Her wrinkles were laugh lines, her big brown eyes unfailingly warm and comforting. Gwyn's eyes, Kara realized as she looked down at her coeval, were the same shape as her grandmother's. Laya might have given Gwyn her beauty, but the shape of it favored Queen Lena's blood.

Much as she loved her father, she prayed her children favored Adan's side of the family._ If you even get to have them_, an unwelcome voice that sounded like hers whispered in her head. _If he even wants you to have them._

"Is this your first visit, Highness?" Kara asked before she bit her tongue. She ought to kick herself for such a stupid question. It made it sound like Queen Lena didn't care about her granddaughter and only now could bother to check in!

"No, dear. I've been here several times," replied the Queen. "But you were asleep each time."

Kara blushed again. Would her skin ever cooperate with her? The Queen blithely continued. "I didn't stay too long, since I was didn't want to leave Laya alone with Wren too long. Besides," she added wryly, "I have had to spend quite a bit of energy keeping my boys from upsetting these sick rooms."

She flinched. Another reminder that Adan might not be as trustworthy as she wanted him to be was the last thing she needed. Especially not from Adan's grandmother.

"You know, dear, you shouldn't be so worried."

"W-what? Er, I mean…"

Queen Lena laughed gently. "Oh, it's so wonderful to see you're still the same sweetheart I knew as a little girl! Tell me true, did the fight between Nial and Adan upset you so?"

The moon princess hesitated before she nodded. "Yes, it did, Highness. I've never seen them like that before, not even when Adan and Gwyn and I were attacked by assassins."

"Oh, love, don't fuss over it too much. Our men can be difficult, make no mistake! There are all sorts of misunderstandings we make, even between two souls as gentle as Nial and Laya. They can be so frustrating! Even then, I promise you they aren't as scary as all that." The Queen of Satera looked at her granddaughter. "Although I admit that the women aren't any easier!"

The moon princess giggled. "Gwyn is in a class all her own!"

"Certainly," Queen Lena agreed amiably as she reached down and stroked her granddaughter's hair fondly. "I have faith she'll soon wake up, as impertinent as ever."

Kara felt a stab of jealousy as she saw Gwyn's lack of whimpers at her grandmother's touch. Did her coeval know how lucky she was? It wasn't precisely Princess Thea's fault that Kara's childhood had lacked the motherly affection she craved, but it still gnawed at her. Even unconscious, did Landen's princess just take it for granted? Worse, did she whimper at Kara's touch because she did not care for the moon princess?

Queen Lena stood up. "I'll go resume my watch over Laya. I'll send Mieu back to keep you company and have someone bring you something to eat." The soft brown eyes met hers. "Don't fret, dear. There's nothing to be worried about. From what one knows of Orakio and Laya, they take care of their own, and our men follow their example."

Kara stared at her best friend's face as Queen Lena left. Whatever else happened, they were still aimed at a black hole and none of Gwyn's dreams to date said differently. There was nothing else she could do, so she did her best to ignore the doubts and fears she felt and prayed.

_Please, oh Laya, let my best friend wake up! Please, oh Laya, deliver us from Dark Force!_


	3. Chapter 3

Another light vanished. She ran.

The wretched stench of blood oppressed her senses as she fled, the droplet trails of red her only idea of direction, of the barest sketch of a path. There was no sky overhead, not even a fake one of clouds and sun. There was no ground to walk upon, no wind to caress the cheeks and carry away the metallic miasma that assaulted her. There was only the hollow emptiness that lacked even the hope of light as the ocean of darkness threatened to overwhelm her.

Her instincts screamed within her as she fled. Her truest self gibbered wordlessly in terror. Her other self did not hear her hapless whimpers, her frantic screams for help. Evil. This was a place of evil.

And _it _was hunting for her.

She did not dare look away from the crimson stains that were the only color in a hell darker than black. They were the only measure of reality in the impenetrable shadow, the only thing that could potentially be a little safe. Everything to the side of the path only led down, down, down, to an abyss that never ended.

There were fewer lights now. There had been many, once. They had floated around a grotesque construct of spikes, fangs and claws that gouged into a single, despairing man. The helpless figure dimmed as a chain of thorns enveloped his flesh. Then _it _appeared.

_Its _deformed skull a mockery of nature, the hollow pits of its eyes burned with hatred. Four long, protruding fangs guarded its mouth, eager to rend and tear. _Its _open jaws led to a deep, empty void from where there was no escape.

Some of the lights had been swallowed by _it_. She had fled. Others had joined her on the trails of blood. A bold few had dared stray from the crimson paths; those had vanished, never to be seen again.

A moment's rest, she wanted just one moment to rest. But there was no _where _to rest, nowhere to _hide_. There were only the scent of blood, the infinite darkness, and the disturbing droplets that meandered through the shadows without an end in sight.

_It _was nearby.

She flinched. She had sensed every time a light had fallen into its gaping maw. It was only a matter of time before _it _attacked her again. She didn't know how she had managed to avoid being devoured by _it _for so long_,_ but she was probably the last survivor left in this horrible place. There was no question about whether or not she would be found. The question was how long she would survive.

The void shook. That nightmarish face rose ahead of her. She froze as those hollow eyes burned with hatred. It flew toward her, its mouth open wide, the darkness within its jaws aching for her.

There was no escape.

A light pierced the darkness and exploded in a luminescent burst against _its_ skull. The void shook again, only with agony. Pain. Pain could be inflicted. That meant...

She finally remembered. This foul creature had a name: Dark Force. An ancient, terrible demon, but if the monster could feel pain, that meant that it could be beaten. If it could be beaten, that meant it could be _killed_.

Though not by her alone. She had run and run, and did not have the strength to fight it now. Another light cut through the velvet black with the speed and remorselessness of an arrow. An arrow? Where had it come from?

Realization struck her like a hammer between the eyes. The light had come from _the darkness_. Someone had walked off the blood-stained trail! Someone was out there in shadows and still alive!

She had to turn off this path. Someone was out there. She had to take that first step, out into that abyss. Just one step. That's all. One step. Just move.

Why wasn't she moving? Why did she keep staring at the beast in front of her as it roared its defiance at the arrows of light that struck its hideous face? Why was her heart trying to come out of her chest?

Another beam of light lanced the darkness before it impacted against Dark Force's skull. The beast screamed again. Was _it _keeping her here? Did it _dare _try to keep her on the blood-drenched trail against her will? Anger filled her breast. This demon would learn that she was subject to no one!

She leaped off the path and through the darkness. Away from Dark Force, away from the droplets of crimson, away to freedom. She ran faster.

Far ahead, a pillar of fire burned the darkness away. How could she not see it before? The shadows quivered in a terror that made her previous fear a little thing in comparison. Incandescent rage tore through them mercilessly as flames burned hotter. She knew the owner of this fury as well as she knew herself. It had taken him long enough to find her!

The maw was suddenly around her. Dark Force! Somehow, the demon had caught up with her. The jaws began to close. No one escaped from the monster's mouth. Her freedom could have been on the other side of the galaxy for all the good it did. Though she tried to sprint faster, she knew she wouldn't escape by herself.

Light exploded. Powerful bursts of energy blasted Dark Force. The beast recoiled. Its jaws fell away from her vision. She wasted no time in marveling at the fine hand that had controlled that almighty spell. The distance between her and safety shrank as the arrows of energy cut through the darkness in ruthless simultaneous triple shots. The demon's screams accompanied every explosion of light.

A familiar figure radiated the intensity of her soul. Her colors were a welcome relief from the wretched jet black that had filled her eyes for an eternity. Golden topaz shone like the sun as nightscape sapphires glittered dimly. Rubies glistened dark red and pink as her hand drew back and launched another salvo of light. The emptiness trembled as the arrows hit their mark.

She threw herself into the arms of that familiar figure. Emotions radiated from that figure. Relief, exasperation, great affection, scolding, determination, and profound love that would never falter. She held on tighter as the figure once again used that mightiest of spells without restraint. The figure held her tighter, turned toward the pillar of flame, and leaped toward it.

The world changed.


	4. Chapter 4

Gwyn opened her eyes.

A hazy world of pink swam in her vision as a pale heart-shaped blob wreathed by a strange lime-green mass hovered in the middle of her line of sight. She blinked. Once, twice, thrice. Slowly, the familiar pink fabric of her canopy bed came into focus. The pretty drapes stirred gently as a soft breeze came in through the window, the night sounds of home riding that gentle whisper of wind. The strain on Kara's face became clearly visible as Gwyn distinguished her features from the thick mane of hair.

Landen's princess said the first thing that popped into her head. "You promised to have a hot guy wake me up the next time I had a bad dream."

Which caused –why, she couldn't begin to guess! —Kara to burst into tears. She frowned as she pushed herself up, puzzled at the strange weakness in her body. "Uh, Kara? I know it wasn't the wittiest I could do, but it couldn't have been bad enough to –"

That was about as far as she got before Kara put her into a death grip. Well, Gwyn supposed it was meant to be a very tight hug, but when the person hugging you was the daughter of a man as muscular as Lune...

_Well, it's not like I _needed _all that air in my lungs anyway._

Kara was murmuring something under her breath. Gwyn tried to catch the words as circulation to her brain was cut off by the force of the moon princess' hug. "Stupid dummy, stupid dummy, stupid dummy..."

Gwyn tried to object through the fierceness of Kara's embrace. The best she managed was a breathless squeak. "H-hey...!"

Not that the moon princess paid her ineffectual protests any mind. She didn't seem to have the strength to push her friend away, either, so Gwyn went for her secret weapon. Her fingers rested on Kara's ribs and attacked.

"G-Gwyn!" The yelp that issued forth from her coeval's mouth mingled laughter with protest. The moon princess was ridiculously ticklish, had been so for as long as they'd known each other. Tickling had always been a potent way to put an end to anything Kara did that annoyed her, and unfortunately for her friend, she had the edge. Gwyn knew all of the taller girl's weak spots even as Kara lacked the knowledge of where to counter.

The one thing she hadn't counted on, though, was that her friend would be enough stronger than her to stop her attack. It took a while, but her body was so strangely weak that Kara managed to pin her down. An experimental twist was countered as the taller girl's body weighed down on her. Gwyn eyed her friend. "Were you always this heavy? You might want to lay off on the pastries, Kara."

That familiar face crumpled into a hurt expression. Her friend whispered in bruised tones, "Why are you so _mean_?"

Confusion brought a frown to her face. "What are you talking about?"

Kara apparently ignored her. "I've been sitting by your side for two days—"

"Two days? What are you—"

"—I've barely got a wink of sleep since we came to Landen, I've been so afraid, afraid that you would never wake up, that something bad had happened to you, so afraid of Ada—"

The moon princess suddenly clammed up. Gwyn stared at her, read her emotions in every twitch of her face, every flicker of her eyes. Slowly, she pushed the two of them up and latched onto Kara's hands before the girl could even think of flight. "Why don't you start from the beginning?"

So she listened. She listened as Kara told her about the diving expedition to recover Orakio's sword, how only Gwyn and her twin had gone into those murky depths. She listened as Kara explained Dark Force had been bound by that black blade and its release had sent Gwyn into a mania before she had lost consciousness. She listened as she was told about her return from the depths, of the stillness akin to death she had lingered in for three nights. She listened as Kara related Adan's anguish and the moon princess' own frenzied worry.

She remembered none of it, but it certainly helped explain where her mind had been. Dark Force was freed. It should have shaken her more, the idea that the demon that had destroyed Palma was on the loose, but she still remembered her resolution to vanquish the demon. Her eyes wandered her room and noticed an opened notebook on her nightstand. Kara's?

"...then your father and brother got into an awful fight in the middle of the court, and they were just screaming the most terrible things at each other. Your father blamed Adan for your mother also falling unconscious, and I was so certain they were going to fight it out right there if your grandfather—"

"Pawpaw is here?" Gwyn interrupted excitedly. "Is Nana here too?"

Kara stared at her in disbelief. "You...Dark Force is free and you're asking about your grandparents?"

Gwyn shrugged. "We'll kill Dark Force."

Irritation pricked at her as her friend continued to show her doubt. Kara still hadn't told her the two things she wanted to know, but now was not yet the time to strike. "Continue the story, please."

"Well, your grandfather threatened to toss them both into the dungeons and... what's so funny?"

Oh, how she wanted to laugh! Kara's upset expression was enough to tell her that the moon princess didn't see the humor, but oh, it was just so funny! _Her _grandfather threatened to throw people in the dungeon for temper? Hilarious!

"I'll tell you later. Continue."

"Well, your grandmother forbade your father and brother the sickrooms and-"

Now. "Why are you afraid of Adan?"

Kara's mouth opened and closed in an imitation of a fish out of water, her light blue eyes filled with dismay. Her friend had obviously thought that she'd forgotten her little slip of the tongue. The moon princess tried to look anywhere but at her. Impatient, Gwyn caught her coeval's head and glared into her eyes. "Well?"

Wary was the mildest way to describe Kara's eyes. "I've...I've never seen him like that. Even when we fought those Punishers in Terminus, I wasn't afraid of him, but when he just started screaming all those awful things at your father, I...I didn't know him. It seemed like they were both ready to kill each other. I don't know what I'd do if he ever screamed at me like that."

Gwyn sighed as she released Kara. "Don't be silly, Kara. Papa and Adan were just upset over Mama and me. Adan would be just as upset if something happened to you."

"Would he? Would he really?" The tears were back in those light blue eyes. "How do you know? He could just be toying with me. He hasn't even said he loves me yet!"

"Are you really this insecure?" Gwyn asked. She shook her head and took Kara's hands in her own firmly. "Listen to me. You're the first girl Adan has ever kissed, and believe me, it's not from lack of trying on the part of the chits in this court! He cares for you very deeply. He's just not the type to say something that he thinks should be obvious. If you stopped worrying so much, you'd have seen a half-dozen little things he's done to show his affection."

Those long-fingered hands attempted to flutter but were restrained by Gwyn's iron grip. Denied her nervous habit, Kara stared down at her lap. Gwyn sighed. She was more or less resigned to Kara as her sister-in-law, not out of any innate objections to the girl, but mostly because she still wasn't a fan of sharing. It seemed like a poor joke that Gwyn would be obligated to rebuild Kara's faith in what she wanted.

"Kara. Look at me." Those blue eyes peeked out reluctantly from underneath her friend's bangs. "The only way to provoke Adan like that is to endanger what's his."

"His?"

There was curiosity instead of objection, so Gwyn plowed on. "That's right, _his_. Remember what happened in Terminus? That idiot Punisher didn't lose his hands because it was the quickest way to end the fight. He lost his hands because Adan was furious that he tried to hurt _you_."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

That seemed to cheer the moon princess up for all of a few heartbeats before that face crumpled again. "But..."

Exasperated by Kara's perverse refusal to listen to reason, Gwyn felt like shrieking. Instead, she managed to be civil. Somewhat. "But _what_?"

"You hate it."

Gwyn stared at the bleak expression on her friend's face. "What in the world are you _talking _about?"

"You...you yelled at me and yelled at me after I kissed Adan in the Kensai camp. And you've been really mean to me ever since we were in Frigidia. It felt like you didn't approve, like you were making fun of my feelings for Adan, and wanted to get rid of me. I...I..."

"Kara, I'm Adan's _twin_. Do you really think that if I wanted to get rid of you, you'd have gotten any kisses in Skyhaven?"

"_What?_"

"Yes, I know about that," Gwyn said, ignoring the blush burning her friend's cheeks. "Now while you turn that noggin of yours to answering my question, here's another thing for you to chew on. _When _have I ever been good at sharing?"

"Well, um..."

"I didn't hit your head _that _hard when we fought over the cookie platter," Gwyn said tartly.

Kara smiled ruefully as she rubbed her head. "I got you back later."

"So it _was _you! I always knew Adan would never fill my shoes with slime!"

The giggles were a much better fit than the gloom, Gwyn decided. She let them run their course before she continued. "Now that we've established I am not very good at sharing cookies, I'll admit I'm not very good at sharing my brother, either. However, I am willing to try, but only with one person. You."

Her coeval looked surprised. Before she could open her mouth, Gwyn added, "There's a condition or two attached, though. You have to stop worrying so much. You also have to be my little sister."

"_Little_ sister?" Kara objected. "I'm older than you!"

"True, but I'm smarter, more mature, more sophisticated, and just so much cooler," Gwyn said airily, eying the notebook on her nightstand. She had a good hunch about what was in there. Not only notes about their journey, but also...

"Smarter? You're not smarter than me! You didn't even know what callipygian was until—"

Her hand darted out like lightning and seized the notebook before Kara could finish her sentence. Her friend froze for a full heartbeat before she seemed to understand her mortal danger. The moon princess lunged at her, but Gwyn had expected that. She pushed herself back against the head board and Kara sailed right by. Her coeval landed on the floor with a thump that gave Gwyn enough time to read what was on the page.

"You know, Kara, this poem is pretty good."

The landing seemed to have knocked some of the wind out of the taller girl. A grunt emerged from the floor as a hand latched onto the bed's side. Gwyn began to read aloud.

"The sky is on fire  
or is that my heart?  
Why does the moon shake  
as the void becomes indigo?  
The sun is a red ruby  
hasn't that always been so?  
Otherworlds hold the stars  
weren't they always twinkling there?  
The velvet moonlight dances  
but I've only eyes for you."

Another hand appeared on the edge before Kara dragged herself up. "Was there a reason for that?"

Gwyn shrugged and gestured. Kara turned her head in the direction of the door. The moon princess turned redder than the _tikal _on Gwyn's forehead.

Adan was standing in the doorway, staring into the room. His face was set in an expression that would have made dragons quail, but Gwyn could sense his relief at her revival. His hand was bloody. A consequence of his rage, perhaps? She glanced at Kara and thought of something that made her smirk. "You're scaring your bride, big brother."

"I am not scaring my brid—" Adan's eyes, so like her own, widened in alarm. "I mean..."

Her laughter met his lame attempt at denial. Gwyn tapped her forehead and grinned at her twin. "Twin sister, remember? Do you really want to try that?"

Adan frowned. "If I _am_ scaring my bride, I'll apologize."

Joy suffused Kara's face and lit the room up like the noonday sun. Gwyn sighed. Well, at least _someone _was happy. "Carry me to Mom's room. She'll be awake by now."

"Why do I have to carry you?" Adan objected.

"You're really not going to make a sick girl walk, are you, big brother?"

Her twin sighed, defeated, as he came over to the bed. Adan squatted down near her. Gwyn climbed on her twin's back and amiably put her arms around her brother's neck. He stood up with care, wary of hurting her. She nudged him with her knee. "Come on, come on."

"Are you sure you're sick?" Adan muttered.

"Very sick," she assured him. "Come on, Kara. Let's go say hi to Mom."

As they walked down the corridor, Gwyn thought about her nightmare. Wherever it had been, the place was real. Laya had been the one to rescue her from that unending darkness. Just as importantly, she knew that the dream man did not serve Dark Force willingly. Those awful thorns said more than any words.

_We'll save you, Uncle. I promise._


End file.
